. >> admiral mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in front of our committee back in february, said the following:. >> no matter how i look at this issue, i cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place on a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens. >> he reached a conclusion-- so did secretary gates-- reached a conclusion, this policy must change. because an election was coming up? secretary gates, a republican, decides this policy must change because there's an election coming up? of course not. >> lehrer: the issue will now have to wait until at least after election. the military's review of the effects of repeal is due in december. >> lehrer: and we go to "newshour" political editor david chalian and mark thompson, deputy bureau chief and pentagon correspondent for "time" magazine. david, lay out the politics of what happened today in the senate and why. >> i know you'll be shocked to find out that there was actually politics going on. >> lehrer: john mccain was right? >> there were politics